Towles belong on a top ten list for catchers because after the elite 5 and Johjima/Molina, everyone else is basically worthless so you should gamble on the upside since it really won't hurt you to miss out on .250, 55 R, 10 HR, 50 RBI that most veteran catchers provide.

Ender wrote:I personally like him more than Geovany "I had one good year in the minors and it was my 3rd time in AAA" Soto. Towles throws in a few SB which is always a nice way to mitigate risks elsewhere.

There certainly risk to Soto, but I wouldn't discount the value of losing 20-30lbs at a physically demanding position.

The bottom line for me is that he's a catcher who can be had at the end of the draft, hit for a decent average with a bit of pop, and he'll probably steal 10-15 bases. Getting those stolen bases from the catcher position is gravy, baby.

Towles is a tough call. On one hand, he basically jumped straight from AA to the Majors, having only accumulated 216 ABs in AA and 43 in AAA. For any hitter, that's tough to do, and he's a Catcher, so it's even tougher. On the other hand, he stole 14 bases last year in only 349 ABs (albeit with a horrible success rate), so it gives him a greater chance for solid roto value, getting those rare steals from the C slot. However given the awful SB success rate in the minors, how much will he actually run? He's definitely a high risk, high reward guy, and it's really impossible to project his numbers with any degree of certainty. In a 2-catcher league, he's certainly worth taking a shot on, but in a shallow, 1-catcher league, he doesn't need to be drafted. Just watch the SB attempts and pick him up if he's running.

mkooljr1 wrote:Towles is a tough call. On one hand, he basically jumped straight from AA to the Majors, having only accumulated 216 ABs in AA and 43 in AAA. For any hitter, that's tough to do, and he's a Catcher, so it's even tougher. On the other hand, he stole 14 bases last year in only 349 ABs (albeit with a horrible success rate), so it gives him a greater chance for solid roto value, getting those rare steals from the C slot. However given the awful SB success rate in the minors, how much will he actually run? He's definitely a high risk, high reward guy, and it's really impossible to project his numbers with any degree of certainty. In a 2-catcher league, he's certainly worth taking a shot on, but in a shallow, 1-catcher league, he doesn't need to be drafted. Just watch the SB attempts and pick him up if he's running.

I don't think that anyone going in the last few rounds of drafts can be called high risk... If he doesn't pan out you just grab the catcher that you passed up to take a chance on Towles.

mkooljr1 wrote:Towles is a tough call. On one hand, he basically jumped straight from AA to the Majors, having only accumulated 216 ABs in AA and 43 in AAA. For any hitter, that's tough to do, and he's a Catcher, so it's even tougher. On the other hand, he stole 14 bases last year in only 349 ABs (albeit with a horrible success rate), so it gives him a greater chance for solid roto value, getting those rare steals from the C slot. However given the awful SB success rate in the minors, how much will he actually run? He's definitely a high risk, high reward guy, and it's really impossible to project his numbers with any degree of certainty. In a 2-catcher league, he's certainly worth taking a shot on, but in a shallow, 1-catcher league, he doesn't need to be drafted. Just watch the SB attempts and pick him up if he's running.

I don't think that anyone going in the last few rounds of drafts can be called high risk... If he doesn't pan out you just grab the catcher that you passed up to take a chance on Towles.

well it depends what size league you play in. i play in 2 catcher leagues and use an auction, but even if it were a draft, no way he should fall to the last couple of rounds. in a casual league and those with 1 catcher, yeah, he'll prob fall to the last round

Towles will have a much bigger impact from 2009 and on I believe..This year I see a minimal impact, a 6 HR, 37 RBI, 34 Run, .280 type impact because he will not get many AB's..Asmus will split time with him and there is also Quintero..I see Asmus getting his 300+ AB's as the Stros are very faithful to him as they were Biggio, Bagwell etc etc and will give him his AB's no matter what because he's been a good soldier and served them nearly a decade and the fans adore him (All that type stuff) ..Meanwhile Towles will get 250, maybe 300 AB's if lucky and do what he can with limited time. Believe me, he will be very lucky just to touch 50% of the catching time until 40 yr old Asmus retires.

And Asmus will bring his 2 HR's 27 RBI's and .240 Ave to boot..NICE!!! But the Stros got to stick w/ the good soldier

kemper5 wrote:Towles will have a much bigger impact from 2009 and on I believe..This year I see a minimal impact, a 6 HR, 37 RBI, 34 Run, .280 type impact because he will not get many AB's..Asmus will split time with him and there is also Quintero..I see Asmus getting his 300+ AB's as the Stros are very faithful to him as they were Biggio, Bagwell etc etc and will give him his AB's no matter what because he's been a good soldier and served them nearly a decade and the fans adore him (All that type stuff) ..Meanwhile Towles will get 250, maybe 300 AB's if lucky and do what he can with limited time. Believe me, he will be very lucky just to touch 50% of the catching time until 40 yr old Asmus retires.

And Asmus will bring his 2 HR's 27 RBI's and .240 Ave to boot..NICE!!! But the Stros got to stick w/ the good soldier

Actually there was an article in the USA Today paper just this morning that said Towles is expected to get 500 ABs and that Ausmus was comfortable taking the role of the mentor.